“This is a bad idea,” she whispered, even as she tightened her grip on him.
He eased from the kiss, unwillingly, and sat up, his breathing ragged.
“What was that for?” she whispered, her hand touching her lips.
So that every time you look at another man, you’ll remember that you’re mine.
“I don’t know,” he finally said. He stood. “Lock the door, Emma.”
He closed the door behind him and waited to hear the lock click. It didn’t matter that when he kissed her, he felt a whisper in his soul, telling him she was his forever. No. He should not have given in to his impulse. She was a woman in trouble, and he was a bastard for taking advantage of her vulnerability.
He snorted to himself. Vulnerable though she might be, she would probably never admit it out loud.
“You can’t claim every pretty girl who turns your head,” Reilly grumbled as Aidan flopped onto the couch in the front living room.
Colin, in one of the armchairs, put his booted feet up on the coffee table. He smirked. “I’m interested to know how you got her here. And so willingly, too.”
“Those new Docs?” Reilly asked, leaning in to admire the shoes. “They’re nice. Good quality.”
“Thanks. Got ’em on sale,” Colin replied, admiring them. “Normally I hate getting new shoes, but these were a great find. No need to break them in.”
“If you ladies are done comparing shopping notes?” Aidan cut in, annoyed.
“Looks like she’s got under his skin,” Reilly noted.
“Shove off.”
“Don’t see what’s got his knickers in a twist,” Reilly said to Colin, who shrugged, still admiring his new Doc Martens.
“I’ll go real slow so the dim-witted one here can keep up,” Aidan said with a roll of his eyes. “I got my sword back.”
Colin raised his eyebrows. “Nice. How much did that run you?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know. That’s not the important part.” He switched to Gaelic, in case Emma came downstairs, and quickly relayed her situation through to the threats in the coffee shop that morning.
Colin let out a whistle. “She’s in some serious trouble.”
“And you stepped in, the white knight, waving your sword,” Reilly stated.
“Sounds slightly dirty when you say it that way,” Colin snickered.
“By the saints, you arses, the lass needs my help!” Aidan nearly shouted, his knuckles white.
Colin sat up, dropping his feet, and even Reilly sat straighter.
“Holy hell,” Colin breathed. He looked at Reilly in shock. “He’s claimed her.”
“I’ve done nothing of the sort,” Aidan sputtered.
“My laird,” Cian said, descending the stairs. “With all due respect, ye’ve given the lass food, shelter, and clothing. All she owns now is MacWilliam colors, and she’s under your protection. Methinks it fair to say—”
“Don’t,” Aidan growled.
“Sorry, MacWilliam,” Reilly guffawed, “but it looks like you found your mate.”
Aidan stopped short of tackling Reilly as Emma came down the stairs.
She paused at the door. “About before—”
“No worries, lass,” Reilly said.
“Don’t worry about it,” Colin added.
Aidan just watched her, his fingers gently pulling his lips.
“Okay, well, thanks,” she said, clearly at a loss.
“Do you play cards?” Colin asked suddenly.
She cocked her head. “Depends on what you’re playing for.”
“Money and bragging rights,” Colin answered.
She looked thoughtful.
“They’ll wipe the floor with you,” Aidan warned.
She raised her eyebrows at him. “You playing?”
“You bet.”
“Deal me in,” she decided firmly.
“Have a seat, Emma Perkins,” Reilly laughed. “I think I like you.”
As she settled next to Reilly, Aidan began to worry that his teeth would grind themselves into powder before the night was through.
Chapter 7
The next day, a loud crash greeted Emma at the bottom of the stairs. She paused and peeked around the corner.
Aidan was on the floor, wrestling with Reilly. Two grown men, wrestling as though they were children in a schoolyard fight.
Emma rather hoped Reilly would win their skirmish. Emma still wasn’t sure what to make of that kiss, and Aidan had scowled at her the entire night. It was so at odds with everything he’d done and said to her since they first met, and she wasn’t sure who she was angriest at—Aidan, for being such a jerk, or herself, for letting her guard down.
Either way, she made the firm decision that they were in a strictly professional relationship now.
Aside from the fact, of course, that she was staying in his cousin’s house, hiding from her crazy ex.
She had to figure out a way to free herself from Ben MacDermott.
Shaking her head, she carefully sidestepped the two men as they crashed into the back of the lovely leather couch. From what she could see as she skirted past, Aidan appeared to be bleeding from his lip, and Reilly was sporting a nasty bruise under his eye. They also seemed intent on beating each other to a pulp. Emma rolled her eyes.
She didn’t understand boys when she was younger, and things hadn’t gotten any clearer now that she was grown.
Emma felt much more comfortable after last night’s games, when she’d soundly trumped all of them at poker, Texas Hold ’Em, and even Go Fish. She’d had a good time, despite the remnants of whatever that kiss was between her and Aidan. Plus, Aidan didn’t even pretend to like Reilly, which made Reilly flirt all the more outrageously with her. It was interesting to watch.
Reilly’s head popped out from the living room. “Good morning, Em—oof!” He disappeared again.
She found Colin in the kitchen. He stared intently at a laptop, muttering to himself in Gaelic. She had a sudden thought that she might have landed in a house of lunatics.
Well, she tried to rationalize, that isn’t any different than my typical clientele, really.
“Good morning,” she said, sliding into the chair beside him.
“Morning, Emma. Sleep well?”
As well as I could, knowing that the man who kissed my socks off was sleeping only a door away. “Yes, thanks.”
Another loud crash was heard from the living room, followed by what she was sure were curse words in Gaelic. Colin didn’t bat an eye as he added, “They don’t even try to get along. Haven’t for years.”
“I see,” she replied, her most charming smile in place. “Last night, you mentioned your matchmaking business, and I realized I signed up for it a few months back.” She grimaced. “I thought I was ready to jump back into dating, and I saw an article in the paper, so…Anyway, when did you take ownership?”
He cleared his throat. “About, um, eight years ago.”
“It’s done very well,” she replied. “Some of my clients used Celtic Connections. They did so with great success.”
“I’m happy to hear it,” Colin replied. Another crash. “Coffee?”
“Sure, thanks,” Emma said. Another thud, followed by grunts.
“Whenever you hop back on the dating circuit, let me know,” he offered, sliding her a steaming cup. “We have great matching profiles when you’re ready to settle down. Serious inquiries only.”
She took a sip and frowned thoughtfully. “Thanks. But I don’t think marriage is for me.” But even as she said the words aloud, her heart hurt. Ben would never allow her peace enough to date, let alone marry.
She also wasn’t fool enough to think that she could entrust her heart to anyone ever again.
“You’d make an excellent wife, I’m certain of it,” Reilly drawled, entering the kitchen with Aidan.
“Are you offering to make her one?” Aidan growled to Reilly.
Emma choked.
Reilly laughed at Aid
an, who was wiping the blood from his lip. “Down, boy. Emma, excellent job at the cards last night. Beginner’s luck?”
“Perhaps,” she murmured, reaching for her coffee.
“Ah. A woman of many secrets. Well, that’s fine by me,” Reilly replied, helping himself to her coffee before she could get to it. At her protest, he flashed her a mischievous grin. “Ah, love, we’re all family here. We share everything.”
“Not everything,” Colin interjected mildly, watching Aidan attempt to reign in his temper.
“Aye,” Reilly agreed. “Not everything. But most things.”
“Do you always tease him?” she asked. Reilly just shrugged, and Colin laughed.
“One of the reasons they act like children is because they love each other so much,” Colin explained.
“Hardly,” Aidan growled.
“So how, exactly, are you related to each other?” Emma asked. “None of you look anything alike.”
Colin cleared his throat. “Our family tree has, um, many branches.”
“You all have different last names. That’s interesting. Are your mothers all sisters?” she asked.
“We’re more like second or third cousins,” Colin said carefully, and Emma’s BS radar went on full alert.
“Second or third?” she replied.
“Right. Many branches,” Colin reminded her.
“Right,” she echoed. She poured herself another cup of coffee, since Reilly was still drinking hers, as they swiftly changed subjects and began to (loudly) discuss the state of affairs in Ireland. Reilly, who owned a cottage near Dublin, was arguing with Aidan about the property taxes, and Colin just continued to stare at his laptop.
They were trying too hard. She’d seen it hundreds of times with clients; she wasn’t fooled. She wondered what the real story was—she’d only asked a simple question about their family history.
She caught Aidan’s eye and raised her eyebrow. He stood abruptly, cutting Reilly off midsentence. “Emma, come with me. I don’t want your sweet self tainted by any more time spent with O’Malley.”
“You wound me,” Reilly replied. “Is Cian around today?”
“No.” Aidan didn’t elaborate.
“Actually, I have some questions for Colin,” Emma cut in. “I’d like to know more about your matchmaking business. Did Aidan ever fill out a profile?”
Colin was clearly caught off-guard by the question. “Well—”
“Why is that important?” Aidan interrupted.
Emma took a sip of her coffee. “Because if I’m going to do my job successfully, I need to know what information about you is out there. Is his application still in your database?” she pressed Colin.
He looked bemused. “Of course.”
“How secure are your firewalls? Have you had any hacking attempts recently? Has your client information ever been put at risk? What safeguards do you have in place in the event of such an occurrence?”
“Still not seeing the importance here,” Aidan cut in irritably.
She raised an eyebrow. “Let’s say a patron at The Colcannon decides that he had a terrible experience there. He digs around and finds your profile on Celtic Connections. He can glean all sorts of personal details to use in whatever way he thinks of to damage your reputation. If we know what information is publicly available, and what information is privately available, our case against him will be stronger in court, and we can mitigate the damage. So, I want to know how secure your information is on Colin’s database.”
Aidan’s mouth hung open in surprise. “Oh.”
Colin inclined his head, his expression impressed. “I’ll take you through it all this afternoon in my office.”
“I thought you said the office was ‘organized chaos,’ and that not even the housekeeper would touch it,” she teased. “Maybe we’d better stay in the kitchen.”
“Unnecessary,” Aidan said swiftly. “We can discuss it later, but for now you can rest assured the information in that application is no longer in Celtic Connections’ servers.”
“You wiped my servers?” Colin exclaimed. “You don’t have permission to do that, MacWilliam!”
“Colin’s overprotective about the business,” Reilly murmured in Emma’s ear. “He loved Brianagh—the original founder—very much and he promised to take care of it for her. You’ll see a temper tantrum now.”
Colin and Aidan weren’t paying attention to her and Reilly; Colin stood nose-to-nose with Aidan and was shouting all sorts of things at him in rapid-fire Gaelic. Emma caught “Brianagh,” “fool,” and what she thought were a few choice words directed at Aidan. Aidan didn’t shout back, but she could see the muscles on his neck bunching.
“How, exactly, are they related again?” she asked again, watching the spectacle with interest. Never having any siblings or cousins, Emma had never had the opportunity to argue with such enthusiasm before. All her relationships were businesslike; she’d never blown up at anyone like that before. It was fascinating to watch.
“Technically, Aidan is Colin’s uncle. Many times removed,” Reilly replied, draining the coffee cup.
“Really? You want to pull that out already?” Colin asked incredulously, turning on Reilly.
Emma’s head spun. How could that be? “Uncle?”
“Uncle Aidan, that’s me,” Aidan responded. “It’s a convoluted tale, lass, and I’m hardly traceable to Colin through bloodlines. Irish families—we’re enormous by default. No need to worry, though. His reputation is so clean, I think if anyone did associate us, it would be only for the good of my brand.”
The reminder hit its target—Emma was his employee. She ignored the little stab of pain in her chest. He was right, of course. She had to remember that she was not a part of this family, or any family. She relied on herself, and while these interactions were interesting, they were not her concern. She gave a brief nod.
“We are done here,” Aidan said sharply. “Emma—get your coat. We’re leaving.”
“Save your commands for Cian,” Reilly snapped. “You’re not her laird.”
“No, I’m not,” Aidan snapped back. He leveled a stare at Emma. “I am her employer. And it’s business hours. So let’s go.”
“Where, exactly?” she asked, folding her arms.
“To my restaurant.”
“Another one?” Stunned, Emma watched him leave the kitchen.
“You really know how to put him in a bad mood,” Colin remarked, punching Reilly lightly on the shoulder.
“It’s a talent,” he agreed. “One which you seem to share lately.”
“Emma, before you go,” Colin said as Emma stood, “Aidan, Ry, and I have all had a chat about it, and it’s going to take a little time to get your apartment all fixed. Also, we’re concerned about your safety. We’d really like you to stay here. Long-term.”
She started to protest, and he hurried on before she could comment.
“It’s not entirely altruistic. I was hoping you might spend a little time helping me with Celtic Connections. We’re trying to expand overseas, and I’m not sure how to present the business in foreign markets. I wonder if you might be willing to help with that, offering some advice.”
“That’s really kind, Colin, but…” She shook her head uncomfortably. Aidan must have put him up to it, and she wasn’t sure she liked it.
“This isn’t for pity,” Reilly assured her. “Colin knows what you did with that software company that expanded from California to Japan.”
“True,” Colin confirmed.
Despite herself, she grinned. “That was a fun account. I never got to go to Tokyo, though.”
Unsurprisingly, Heidi had gone in her place, after Emma did all the work of closing the account and creating storyboards, presentations, and contacts in the States. Now that she was out of the environment, Emma really saw how much she’d done for Price Publicity and how little she’d gotten in return. She had a momentary flash of relief that she’d never have to enter that office again.
“I have to see if it would cross any contract lines,” she replied. “But if it doesn’t, then I’ll help you out. Thanks.”
Colin gave her a nod, a lock of his hair falling over his forehead, and she couldn’t help but smile at him. Colin O’Rourke was an all-American heartbreaker, and nice to boot. It worried her a little that she wasn’t even the least bit interested in him.
“EMMALINE!” Aidan boomed, exasperation in his voice. He appeared in the doorway again, wearing his black leather jacket over his gray polo shirt.
Her mouth went a little dry, and, irritated, she knew why Colin just didn’t do it for her.
He wasn’t Aidan MacWilliam.
• • •
Later that day, while Aidan was holed up in the office with Reilly, Colin introduced Emma to the third floor of his massive house. The entire floor was one large room that spanned the length of the brownstone, with the same honey maple wood floors as the rest of the house. The stairs from the second floor led directly into the enormous space, which managed to be light, open, and airy, yet comfortable and welcoming. A gorgeous, highly detailed light blue oriental carpet lay nearly wall-to-wall. The two armchairs were overstuffed, and a basket full of thick fleece blankets sat near a stone fireplace in the wall. The gas insert gave that end of the room a cozy feel.
The best thing about the fireplace wasn’t its ambiance, though. What made her heart beat faster were the shelves surrounding it. She gazed upon the titles lining the walls and felt a little like Belle did when the Beast showed her his library. She was surprised to find a myriad of subjects—just from her first glance, she saw historical texts, literary fiction, and a bestselling thriller novel.
Her eyes traveled to the bright double window at the back of the room, and she noted the inviting window seat. It was padded in a fabric that complemented the blue decor, with oversized chair pillows propped against it.
“This is amazing!”
“When Bri lived here this building was split into two units. I inherited this from her, and when the neighbors wanted to sell, I bought and renovated the whole thing into a single-family home. At the very least, I needed a place to store all Bri’s romance novels,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “That girl had so many, it’s no wonder she started a matchmaking service.”
An Enchanted Spring: Mists of Fate - Book Two Page 10
